United Nations must take action to protect human rights defenders from digital transnational repression
Today, Hong Kong Watch participated in a United Nations online consultation convened by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), presenting evidence of technology-facilitated transnational repression targeting Hong Kong human rights defenders and calling on UN member states to take action.
The consultation forms part of the OHCHR’s broader process, mandated following the 58th Human Rights Council session in March 2025, to assess the risks digital technologies pose to human rights defenders and identify best practices to address those risks across different regions.
Drawing on our written submission and report Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact, Hong Kong Watch’s Advocacy Officer Landson Chan described an escalating trend of technology-facilitated acts of repression. Attacks against Hong Kong activists are no longer confined to the digital sphere, but increasingly extend across sovereign borders to persecute exiled individuals in their new countries of residence.
Mr Chan provided examples on how technology-facilitated attacks reach beyond the digital sphere. In the UK, Carmen Lau was targeted with sexually explicit deepfake images that were printed and sent to her former neighbours. In Australia, a fabricated poster of the wife of former Hong Kong legislator and Hong Kong Watch Advisor Ted Hui, depicting her as a sex worker offering sexual services, was distributed near their home. In Canada, activists have received Telegram messages revealing personal details alongside explicit threats of violence, creating a climate of fear around continued advocacy.
These incidents form part of a broader pattern. Doxxing campaigns have exposed sensitive personal information, including home addresses and family details, while waves of anonymous threats from fake accounts and spoofed identities are used to overwhelm targets.
Based on this evidence, Mr Chan put forward three concrete asks to the United Nations:
Formal recognition of technology-facilitated transnational repression: UN member states must recognise technology-facilitated transnational repression as a distinct and serious category of harm. This category warrants the same urgency as direct physical threats when attacks are coordinated across borders, carry physical consequences, and target individuals for their human rights work.
Practical, accessible protection for defenders: Defenders need safe and trusted reporting mechanisms, funded access to digital security support, and clear legal pathways for recourse when attacks originate from foreign state actors or their proxies.
Platform accountability: Social media companies and messaging services must be required to detect, disrupt, and act swiftly on coordinated harassment campaigns targeting human rights defenders in exile.
Hong Kong Watch urges the United Nations to recognise and take seriously digital attacks that are happening against the Hong Kong diaspora and other dissidents worldwide.
Landson Chan, Advocacy Officer at Hong Kong Watch, said:
“What we presented to the United Nations today is not a collection of online incidents but a documented pattern of coordinated, cross-border intimidation. Doxxing, deepfakes, and threatening messages are tools designed not just to harm individuals, but to send a message to every Hong Kong activist in exile that nowhere is safe, and nothing they do online stays online. The physical consequences are real. The fear is real. And the international community must treat it as such. We urge the United Nations to take concrete steps to make the digital space a safe forum for free expression.”
You can read our full written submission to the OHCHR here.
香港監察參與聯合國網上諮詢 呼籲採取行動保護人權捍衛者免受數碼跨國鎮壓
香港監察今日參與由聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處（人權高專辦）召開的聯合國網上諮詢，提出以科技手段跨國鎮壓香港人權捍衛者的證據，並呼籲聯合國成員國採取行動。
香港監察倡議及傳訊主任Landson Chan引用香港監察書面意見書和報告《隱形衰退：香港數碼權利侵害行為及其影響》（Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact），講述以科技手段施行鎮壓不斷升級的趨勢。針對香港社運人士的攻擊不再局限於數碼領域，而是愈來愈跨越主權邊界，迫害流亡到新居國的人士。
Landson舉例說明科技助長型攻擊如何超越數碼領域。英國方面，劉珈汶受到寄給她舊鄰居的深偽祼露照片騷擾。澳洲方面，有人偽造海報，誣蔑前香港立法會議員、香港監察顧問許智峯的太太為提供性服務的性工作者，並在多處分發。加拿大方面，社運人士收到揭露個人資料並附有明確暴力威脅的Telegram訊息，在持續倡議中營造恐懼氣氛。
這些事件是更廣大行為模式的一部分。「起底」行動洩露住家地址和家人詳細資料等敏感個人資料，而假戶口和偽造身分發動的一波又一波匿名威脅則用來壓倒目標對象。
根據這些證據，Landson向聯合國提出三項具體要求：
正式承認科技助長型跨國鎮壓：聯合國成員國必須承認科技助長型跨國鎮壓為獨特且嚴重的傷害類別。當攻擊經跨境協調，會造成現實後果，並針對人權工作者時，這類傷害與直接現實威脅一樣需要緊急應對。
向人權捍衛者提供實際且容易取得的保護：當攻擊源自外國行為者或其代理人時，人權捍衛者需要安全可靠的舉報機制、獲資助的數碼安全支援，以及明確的法律追索途徑。
推行平台問責制：社交媒體公司和通訊服務商必須要偵察、中斷並迅速採取行動應對針對流亡人權捍衛者的經協調騷擾行動。
香港監察促請聯合國承認並認真看待針對世界各地海外港人社群及其他異見人士的數碼攻擊。
香港監察倡議及傳訊主任Landson Chan表示：
「我們今日向聯合國提出的不是一系列網絡事件，而是有案可稽的經協調跨境恐嚇行為模式。起底、深偽和威脅訊息等工具不但旨在傷害個別人士，而且意圖向所有香港流亡社運人士傳達信息：無地方是安全的，他們在網上做的事情不會停留在網上。現實後果實際存在，恐懼亦實際存在。國際社會必須正視這一點。我們促請聯合國採取具體措施，讓數碼空間成為言論自由的安全論壇。」
香港監察向人權高專辦提交的書面意見書全文可在此處閱覽。